DX-440 AM/FM Direct Entry Communications Receiver
(200-0221) Operation - Part 2 Faxback Doc. # 17503
THE SHORTWAVE HOBBY
Shortwave listening is a hobby with thousands of participants worldwide.
While no special knowledge is required for SWL, you will find your
enjoyment increases with experience and special techniques for listening.
Random tuning on your DX-440 is a good idea if you've never owned a
Communications Receiver before. In this way you can get acquainted with
the various bands and the stations that can be heard. But after you've
been listening for a while you'll discover that you can get more enjoyment
by organizing your listening efforts.
Doing a little of library research can increase your skill as a SWL. Read
up on radio propagation and theory; try to understand the conditions which
make long distant reception possible. In your local library you can find
such valuable references as the WORLD TELEVISION HANDBOOK. Current
information can be found by consulting periodicals dealing with
communications and electronics.
Keep up to date on news events around the world. There's much interesting
listening just tuning to the international service of a nation where an
important event is taking place.
Ham radio operators can be found in all bands listed in our Band Allocation
section. You'll find that hams mainly use Morse code (or CW, as they refer
to it) and SSB. The ham bands are divided up into CW and SSB sections in
the following manner:
3,500 - 3,800 kHz: CW
3,800 - 4,000 kHz: SSB
7,000 - 7,150 kHz: CW
7,150 - 7,300 kHz: SSB
14,000 - 14,200 kHz: CW
14,200 - 14,350 kHz: SSB
21,000 - 21,250 kHz: CW
21,250 - 21,450 kHz: SSB
28,000 - 28,500 khZ: CW
28,500 - 29,700 kHz: SSB
These boundries are not precisely observed everywhere in the world, so
don't be too surprised to find an SSB signal in the CW portion of a band
and visa-versa.
Some of the ranges where aircraft may be flying international routes use
shortwave for their communications. Most transmissions are SSB, although
some AM is still heard. Some of the ranges where aircraft can be heard
include:
4,650 - 4,750 kHz
6,545 - 6,765 kHz
8,815 - 9,040 kHz
10,000 - 10,100 kHz
11,175 - 11,400 kHz
13,200 - 13,360 kHz
15,010 - 15,100 kHz
17,900 - 18,030 kHz
Ships and costal stations can also be heard on shortwave. Most
communications are in SSB and CW. One interesting range is 2,000 -
2,300 kHz, where the Coast Guard and many small boats can be heard. One
frequency to watch is 2,182 kHz, which is an emergency channel. Other
bands in which to tune for ships are:
4,063 - 4,139 kHz
4,361 - 4,438 kHz
8,195 - 8,181 kHz
12,330 - 12,420 kHz
13,107 - 13,200 kHz
16,460 - 16,565 kHs
LISTENING NOTES
If you have never tuned a shortwave receiver before, you may be a bit
confused by the variety of signals that can be heard. To help you find
your way around the bands, here is a summery of what to expect.
The 150 -540 kHz range is known as long wave band. You'll find reception
here best at night in your location. The majority of the stations use
Morse code, although you will hear AM for weather broadcast. The largest
number of stations in this range are beacons for aircraft and marine
navigation. Beacons transmit their call letters continuously at a slow
speed.
A manual on air or marine navigation, available from your public library or
marine supply store, will contain a list of these beacons and their
locations. Weather broadcast on AM often identify themselves by their
location instead of by call letters(such as "New Orleans Radio"). Many
ship stations also use this range, with 500 kHz set aside by international
agreement for distress and emergency.
International broadcast stations can be found in the bands indicated in our
section on Band Allocations. Many such stations operate in English, and
often can be heard during the evening hours (between 6:00 PM and Midnight,
your local time). Programming usually consists of news, commentaries,
local music, and features on life in their respective countries. Among the
stations that are listener favorites worldwide are Radio Japan, the British
Broadcasting Company, Israel Radio, Radio Nederland, in Holland and Radio
Australia, . You'll soon discover which stations will be your personal
favorites.
In tropical areas of the world, static makes reception on the standard AM
broadcasting band very difficult. This has the resulted in special
Tropical Bands set aside for nations located in tropics. Programming here
is intended for local audiences and much of what can be heard is a treat -
exotic languages, beautiful and unusual music, ect. Some English can be
heard, however, from stations in Africa or the Pacific.
You'll find time standard stations quite useful. These stations give out
the exact time of day at specified intervals. The National Bureau of
Standards operates station WWV in Fort Collins, Colorado on 2,500 5,000,
10,000, 15,000,and 20,000 kHz. A man's voice gives the time each minute
along with periodic reports on shortwave reception conditions. The
National Bureau of Standards also operates, WWVH, on the same frequencies
as WWV, in Hawaii. WWVH uses a woman's voice to give the time. Sometimes
you can hear these two stations simultaneously. Other time standards
stations are Canada's CHU on 3,330, 7,335, and 14,670 kHz and VGN in
Australia on 4,500 and 12,000 kHz. Several other nations have simular
stations.
FREQUENCY CONVERSION
Your communications receiver is calibrated in Megahertz (MHz) and Kilohertz
(kHz) - as most communication - type receivers are. You should be familiar
with these terms:
Megahertz: Millions-of-hertz (or cycles-per-second). A Megahertz is
1,000,000 cycles-per-second. Mega means million.
Kilohertz: Thousands-of-hertz . A kilohertz is 1,000 hertz. We use the
abbreviation kHz. Kilo means thousand.
Meter: The term meter, as applied to shortwave listening, refers to the
wavelength of a radio frequency. In many parts of the world,
frequencies are listed in meters, for example, international
shortwave stations in the 19 Meter band. European radio equipment
and stations often refer to the wavelength of a station or band (in
MHz or kHz).
The relationship of these three terms is: 1MHz (million) = !,000 kHz
(thousand). To change 9.62 MHz to kHz we multiply by 1000.
9.62 X 1000 = 9620 kHz
To go the other way, from kHz to MHz, divide by 1000, a station at 3780 kHz
is, 3780/1000 = 3.780 MHz
To convert MHz to meters, use this formula:
Meters = 300/MHz
Example:What is the wavelenght of 7.1 MHz?
300/7.1 MHz= 42.25 meters
COUNTRY LOG
The following listing contains some of the more frequently heard stations
on shortwave. The stations listed can be heard throughout the North
American Continent. All stations operate in English unless otherwise
specified. Most of the stations do not broadcast continuously.
Obviously, reception will vary on the different frequencies according to
the time of day and season of the year. Remember that reception from the
different parts of the world varies with the time of day and their
frequency to which the your DX-440 is tuned. Consult the section on
Changes in Reception for more detailed explanation of these variations.
Remember also that the 7,000 - 7,300 kHz range is shared by hams and
international broadcast; consequently, interference is severe in that
range.
While every effort has been made to ensure that the accuracy of this list,
stations can and do change frequency. Check periodicals on communications
and electronics for more current information on station frequencies and
schedules.
This list only contains broadcasting stations which operate on fixed
frequencies with regular schedules.
These listing can change any time and are here for your reference only.
kHz STATION LOCATION REMARKS
3,223 Radio SR Swaziland
3,265 Radio Mozambique Maputo, Mozambique Programs in Portuguese
3,300 Radio Cultural Guatemala City, Religious Programs
Guatemala
3,380 Radio Iris Esmeraldas, Ecuador Programs in Spanish
3,385 FR3 Cayenne, French Guiana Programs in French
3,396 Radio Kaduna Kaduna, Nigeria
4,750 Radio Bertoua Bertoua, Cameroon
4,755 Imo Regional Radio Imo, Nigeria
4,777 Radio-TV Gabon Libreville, Gabon Programs in French
4,795 Radio Nueva America La Paz, Bolivia Programs in Spanish
4,820 Radio Paz y Bien Ambala. Equador Programs in Spanish
4,832 Radio Reloj San Jose, Costa Rica Programs in Spanish
4,855 Radio Clube do Para Belem, Brazil Programs in Portuguese
4,890 National Broadcasting Port Moresby,
Commission Papua New Guinea
4,915 Voice Kenya Nairobi, Kenya
4,920 Australian Broadcasting Brisbane, Australia
Commision
4,945 Radio Colosal Neiva, Colombia Programs in Spanish
4,965 Radio Santa Fe Bogota, Colombia Programs in Spanish
4,980 Ecos del Torbes San Cristobal, Programs in Spanish
Venezuela
4,990 Radio Barquismeto Barquisimeto, Programs in Spainsh
Venezuela
5.020 Solomon Islands Solomon, Islands
Broadcasting Service
5,057 Radio Gjirokaster Gjirokaster, Albania Programs in Albanian
5,950 Guyana Broadcasting Georgetown, Guyana
Service
5,954 Radio Casino Puerto Limon. Costa Rica
5,960 Radio Canada Montreal, Canada
International
5,980 Radio RSA Johannesburg,
South Africa
6,005 CFCX Montreal, Canada
6,025 Radio Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Programs in Chinese
6,045 Radio Australia Lyndhurst, Australia
6,055 Nihon Shortwave Tokyo, Japan Programs in Japanese
Broadcasting Company
6,060 Radio Nacionai Buenos Aires, Argentina Programs in Spanish
6,075 Radio Sutatenza Bogota, Columbia Programs in Spanish
6,090 Radio Luxemburg Ville Louvigny,
Luxemburg
6,095 Polskie Radio Warsaw, Poland
6,105 Radio New Zealand Wellington,New Zealand
7,140 Trans World Radio Monte Carlo, Monaco
7,170 Radio Noumea Noumea, New Caledonia Programs in French
7,300 Radio Tirana Tirava, Albania
9,475 Radio Cairo Cario, Egypt
9,515 Voice of Greece Athans, Greece
9,525 Radio Korea Soeul, Korea
9,530 Spanish Foreign Radio Madrid, Spain
9,535 Swis Radio international Bern, Switzerland
9,540 Radio Prague Prague, Czechoslovakia
9,570 Radio Bucharest Bucherest, Rumania
9,575 Italian Radio and Rome, Italy
Television Service
9,610 Radio-TV Algeria Algiers, Algeria Programs in Arabic
9,620 Radio Berlin Berlin, East Germany
International
9,645 Radio Norway Oslo, Norway
9,720 Radio Iran Tehran, Iran Programs in Farsi
9,745 HCJB Quito, Equador
9,770 Austrian Radio Vienna, Austria
9,800 Radio Kiev Kiev, USSR
9,835 Radio Budapest Budapest, Hungry
10,040 Voice of Vietnam Hanoi, Vietnam
11,655 Israel Radio Jerusalem, Israel
11,690 Radio Kuwait Kuwait, Kuwait
11,705 Radio Sweden Stockholm, Sweden
11,720 Radio Moscow Moscow, USSR
11,735 Radio Sofia Sofia, Bulgaria
11,745 Voice of Free China Taipei, China
11,815 Radio Japan Tokyo, Japan
11,825 Radio Tatiti Papeete, Tahiti Programs in Tihitian
11,835 4HEV Cap Haitiaen, Haiti
11,845 Radio Canada Montreal, Canada
International
11,850 Deutsche Welle Cologne, West Germany
11,890 Voice of Chile Santiago, Chile
11,900 Radio RSA Johannesburg, South Africa
11,910 BBC London. England
11,930 Radio Havana Cuba Havana, Cuba
11,935 Radio Portugal Lisbon, Portugal
11,945 Radio Peking Peking, China
11,995 Voice of Turkey Ankara, Turkey
11,980 Radio Moscow Moscow, USSR
15,038 Saudi Arabian Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Programs in Arabic
Broadcasting Service
15,084 Voice of Iran Tehran, Iran Programs in Farsi
15,135 Radio Moscow Moscow,USSR
15,165 HCJB Qito, Ecuador
15,190 ORU Brussels, Belgium
15,205 All India Radio New Delhi, India
15,260 BBC London, England
15,265 Finnish Radio Helsinki, Finland
15,275 Radio Sweden Stockholm, Sweden
15,305 Swiss Radio Bern, Switzerland
International
15,310 Radio Japan Toyko, Japan
15,320 Radio Australia Melborn, Australia
15,400 BBC London, England
15,430 Radio Mexico Mexico City, Mexico Programs in Spanish
15,465 Radio Pakistan Islamad, Pakistan Programs in Urdu
17,720 Radio France Paris, France
International
17,825 Vatican Radio Vatican City
17,860 Austrian Radio Veinna, Austria
21,495 Israel Radio Jerusalem, Israel
21,525 Radio Australia Melborne, Australia
21,625 Israel Radio Jerusalem, Israel
21,645 Radio France Paris, France
International
21,735 Radio-TV Morocco Rabat, Morocco Programs in Arabic
25,650 Radio RSA Johannesburg,
South Africa
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